Friday, May 20, 2005 | 11:09 a.m.
Strong local population and employment growth is raising Las Vegas' stature among the nation's top retail markets.
Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co.'s National Retail Report said Las Vegas now ranks No. 12 among the country's top 41 retail markets for 2005. The current showing is up two spots from its 2004 ranking.
"Significant population growth in Las Vegas will continue to support retail expansion in 2005," Christopher LoBello, regional manager for Marcus & Millichap's Las Vegas office, said in a statement on the report.
With that kind of showing, it's only fitting that developers, retailers, real estate agents and mall owners are descending on Las Vegas for the annual International Council of Shopping Centers convention.
ICSC spokeswoman Patrice Duker said that local growth sets an appropriate tone for the convention.
"It certainly provides a great backdrop," she said. "Every time we come to Las Vegas, we see the amazing growth. The development trends people talk about (at ICSC) are put into practice there."
The show, which runs Sunday through Wednesday, is expected to attract 40,000 attendees and exhibitors. The projected attendance would mark a significant increase over the 36,000 attendees in 2004, Duker said.
Rising attendance, she said, is tracking closely to the activity in the retail industry.
"The industry is performing well," Duker said. "People are building new shopping centers or expanding existing ones ... I think (the convention) becomes a factor of that growth."
Duker said the council projects that 25 percent of the retail mall leases signed during the year are a product of the convention.
"It's a convention where people sit down and do business," she said. "Twenty-five percent of all leases get signed, or at least talks begin, at this convention."
Christina Roush, first vice president for investment properties with CB Richard Ellis' Las Vegas office, said the show is a unique opportunity for those close to the retail industry.
"Most people feel that -- compared to most real estate conventions -- ICSC is a must see," she said. "The networking is incredible. People do come here to make deals ... A lot of the projects you are going to see unveiled in the future are seeding right here."
In the past, the Las Vegas market got a unique boost from the convention, Roush said. As executives came to town, they took the opportunity to drive around the area and ultimately lay the groundwork for future deals. Such visibility could have helped the growing city exceeded the retail development it would have otherwise seen.
"I think it put (Las Vegas) ahead of the curve than it would have been by natural growth," she said, adding that despite the small size of Las Vegas, the city also capitalized on its millions of tourists. "Las Vegas does have an unnatural population because of its visitor growth."
Now, however, the booming local population and sizzling economy are attracting deal makers all year.
"The market now has too much velocity to wait until ICSC," she said.
In the past, ICSC has been the setting for major local announcements including the Galleria at Sunset mall and the expansion of the Fashion Show Mall. Roush said she expects no such major announcements this year.
Still, several local projects that have been announced independently of the convention are expected to be looking for traction amid the convention frenzy, said George Connor, a Strip real estate specialist for Colliers International.
He said projects like Town Square Las Vegas -- a 1.2 million-square-foot "lifestyle center" being planned on the former Vacation Village site by Turnberry Associates and CENTRA Properties LLC -- received a lot of attention last year at ICSC.
"I expect them to maybe announce some tenancies and get some attention again this year," Connor said of the project at the I-15 and I-215 interchange.
He also said some Las Vegas condominium developers could be announcing retail plans at the convention as well.
Roush and Duker also pointed to convention debates over the growing trend in so-called lifestyle centers like Henderson's District at Green Valley Ranch and the associated "de-malling of America."
Such a shift in the retail market is of particular interest locally as high land prices are sparking the needs for high-density, mixed-use projects that maximize value.
"It's inevitable here," she said.
archive
